EU To Ban Imports Of Overfished Wild Stocks

Members of the European Parliament therefore stress that common fisheries policy reform must make fisheries sustainable, to ensure the survival of fishing fleets and coastal areas. Moreover, a deal with the Council ban EU imports of fish from overfished stocks and related species was unanimously endorsed by the Fisheries Committee.

MEPs approved at the Fisheries Committee a resolution which paves the way for a Fisheries Committee vote on the basic Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) regulation in October and a plenary one in November this year. The text says that sustainable exploitation of marine resources, based on multiannual management plans, to maintain all stocks above levels capable of producing maximum sustainable yields (MSY), should be the key aim of the new EU fisheries policy, and the new basic regulation must set a clear timetable to this end.

In March 2012, the Council already stressed the need to promote a more sustainable fisheries policy.
In addition, the resolution calls for adequate funding for data collection to assess the current state of stocks better, especially in mixed fisheries where reliable data are lacking. MEPs add that the EU should phase in a fishery-based ban on discards, along with technical measures, such as more selective gear, to reduce or eliminate unwanted by-catches. The ultimate aim of the ban should to prevent, rather than to manage unwanted catches.

In relation to that, Fisheries Committee adopted the deal reached with the Council on new rules empowering the European Commission to ban EU imports of fish from overfished stocks and related species. It was struck by MEPs and Council negotiators in response to massive overfishing of mackerel by Iceland and the Faroe Islands. MEPs insisted in the negotiations that to ensure the long-term sustainability of fish stocks of common interest to the EU and third countries, the EU should take a hard line on third countries that fail to live up to their responsibilities.